I have been asked to quote for staining 45 slatted fence panels (6ft wide, 5ft high), both sides. The panels are installed into concrete post and on top of concrete gravel boards and they are adjacent to a public footpath, so each one will need to be lifted out, laid down on dustsheets, sprayed, left to dry, turned over, sprayed on the other side, left to dry, and then reinstalled.

They are very good quality with grooved wood for the slats. It would be an endless job to stain them by hand but I have never used a sprayer before. How difficult is it to use one and get the result looking even? I'm not interested in investing in an electric sprayer as it would be a long time before I used it again, so are those hand-held plastic bottle type sprayers any good?

At the moment, before actually doing the quote, I am estimating 1 hour per panel, including the palaver of removing them and putting them back, so about 45 hours of work. Anyone done a fence like this before? Will one coat be enough with it being sprayed?

I'm inclined to turn down the job because the thought of spending a week spraying fence panels doesn't appeal to me, plus the possible expense of replacing any that break while removing or replacing them.

Pain in the arse job walk away Tom, the quote will be more than the £30 they are expecting to pay. The thing with sprayers is the drift if there is a breath of wind and it uses a lot of preservative. it is actually quicker using a fence brush by the time you unclog the spray head and keep stopping to refill. Also there are lots of surfaces to get to.

You know you cannot be arsed let them down gently as you are allergic to the finish.

Agreed it's a horrible tedious job and something of a maul doing it all by yourself so I can fully sympathise if you'd rather not do it.I have in the past been confronted with a similar job although it was a load of trellis panels but the principal is the same. I constructed a "tank" using concrete blocks and a sheet of thick plastic a little larger than the panels . I then poured several gallons of fence treatment into it and dipped the panels. I also set up another similar tank in which to stand the dipped panels to catch any run off. Set up doesn't take too long and it's a quick process to dip the panels . Still a messy job as when it came to putting the panels back there was nearly always a blob or two that hadn't fully dried and that was always the bit you grabbed hold of or rested on your chest.

You need to factor in that they wont be easy to get in or out too, back breaking imo. I would estimate around 40 mins per side. Approximately 1 and a half hours per panel including removal and refit. I'd pass as they're a pig to paint too.

Walk away tom. If your books quite full it’ll be autumn before you get to them and it’ll probably be p*ssing down anyway.However that scouse dude that won big brother can spray one of those panels with that Wagner spray gun he’s always selling in a few minutes!! Have a look here https://youtu.be/3dox319XsfI

_________________Carpentry,I can explain it to you but I cannot understand it for you.

Not sure how you lift them out. They look like planed wood which means a lot of the "ducksback" type products are not suitable. For planed wood the safe option is a penetrating preservative/protection stuff, and you need 3 coats of it on the basis the first two will absorb reasonably fast. The only option would be to spray them as they are (posts 'n all). Alternatively, Sainsbury's had/have Fever Tree (I am posh me) reduced by 40p. for the half litre bottles, you know what to do.

Thank you for all the replies. I won't be doing the job. As is often the case, it is for an existing customer who is very nice - she made us lunch every day this week despite us telling her there was no need! - but I already pre-warned her that it is probably something that needs a a bigger firm to do so they have the man power to get it done quickly and manage all the lifting in and out of the panels.

Just to buck the trend here, if the panels are easy enough to get out and you have the space you could easily spray 10 panels (one side) in an hour using an airless sprayer. Depending on the weather you could be done in a day or two (variables dependent).

Yes it takes a little bit of getting used to but honestly the learning curve is quick and once you get into it you'd be surprised how fast they are. Like everything prep is key.

Just to buck the trend here, if the panels are easy enough to get out and you have the space you could easily spray 10 panels (one side) in an hour using an airless sprayer. Depending on the weather you could be done in a day or two (variables dependent).

Yes it takes a little bit of getting used to but honestly the learning curve is quick and once you get into it you'd be surprised how fast they are. Like everything prep is key.

That's the problem though. Until he tries, he won't know if they're easy to remove or not and with that many panels I'd see it's likely some won't be easy. Also at 6 foot high they're difficult to do solo, both out and back in.

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